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Hanoi: A common illness that typically causes little more than a fever and rash has killed 24 children in China, and health officials fear the worst may be yet to come as outbreaks occur in neighbouring countries.
China's Health Ministry issued a nationwide alert over the weekend after the enterovirus 71 virus, or EV-71, which causes a severe form of hand, foot and mouth disease, infected more than 4,500 children in central Anhui province. The outbreak is centred around Fuyang city, where 22 deaths have occurred. Yesterday, the official Xinhua news agency said the virus had claimed the lives of two more children in southern Guangdong province.
High fatality rate
"That's an extraordinarily high case fatality, and that's what caught our attention," said Peter Cordingley, spokesman for the World Health Organisation's regional Western Pacific office.
"Otherwise, it would have passed under the radar."
Hand, foot and mouth disease is a childhood illness found worldwide that spreads through contact with saliva, feces, fluid secreted from blisters or mucus from the nose and throat. Symptoms typically include fever, skin rashes and sores inside the mouth and on fingers and toes.
There is no vaccine or specific treatment, but most children typically recover quickly without problems.
However, EV-71 causes a more serious form of the illness that can lead to paralysis or death.
Experts worry that the deadlier version of the virus is becoming more common. Vietnam and Singapore have both recently seen a sharp increase in cases, including ones linked to EV-71.
"On average, several children die from the disease each month at the hospital," said Dr Nguyen Quang Vinh at Children's Hospital No. 1 in Ho Chi Minh City.
The number of cases reported nationwide this year in Vietnam was not immediately available, but state-run media have reported that some children's hospitals have seen increases of up to seven times over last year.
Infections also continue to rise in Singapore, which has reported more than 9,000 cases this year, with EV-71 found in 25 per cent of the samples tested. No deaths have been reported as yet, but the government has ordered eleven preschools and childcare centres closed.
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